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Wednesday, 26 November 2014

Wild Bird Wednesday 124 - Robin

When I was back in the UK one of the things I really enjoyed was catching up with the kinds of birds I used to see around my house everyday. Nowadays I see Australian Magpies and two or threes species of parrot most days, along with a few introduced birds. So, seeing robins, tits, finches and warblers was a real treat.

What surprised me when I got back home to Australia was how few pictures I had taken of these 'domestic' species - at least part of the reason for that is that I often saw them when I was sat in a garden (beer or otherwise) and I was not in photographic mode!

So, in celebration of the common and the everyday, I give you a Robin from the UK. This is a common, and trusting species, in the UK. As far as I am aware this species is much less domesticated in the rest of Europe.

As you will notice if you are not from Europe this is not the bird you call a robin - presumably the robins in other parts of the world gained this name via the possession of a red breast rather than a shared evolutionary history.

Anyway - this rather obliging bird stayed still enough form me to photograph it, even if it did have a fondness for the shadows of a hedge.

And now it is over to you - click the blue button to link in with WBW and off your go!

What a cutie ... our Robins are bigger, fatter, more red but sweet. They are also comfortable around people, but not to the extent that you could pick them up or hand feed them. They will except an offering from a plate on the ground though ... you rarely see them at feeders because they eat insects and worms. Last spring when it stayed cold for so long and they were already back, I put meal worms on the ground by the feeders and they came. Great shot, Stewart.

Great photos and it looks just like in the picture books I had as a child. I don't know why - but all of my books about nature were books from England - maybe there wasn't a big enough market for local children's books???

A pleasant reminder to us all of the species that we take for granted. I have a pair in the garden that are very friendly and follow me about when I am gardening. Its due to this behaviour of my garden Robins that made me aware and therefore the bird watcher that I am today.

It's such a beautiful robin! Love that second photo so much! I learned the European robin was different when I read The Secret Garden as a young person, and was a little jealous (I say this and cringe...I'm being mean to OUR robins!) that you had a smaller, more friendly bird. I'm a terrible person! :-~